In the
early 1900's my grandfather, Gastao Gracie, was instrumental in helping
Japanese immigrants establish a community in Brazil. It was at this time
that he met a Japanese man named Mitsuyo Maeda Koma. At that time, Koma
was recognized as the world champion of Jiu-jitsu. Because of Koma's Jiu-jitsu
exploits, he had been awarded a government position by Crown Prince Hirohito.

Interestingly, Koma was one
of five "Guardian" instructors sent by Professor Jigoro Kano to the United
States to teach U.S. military men the art of Judo. These instructors
were requested by President Theodore Roosevelt. Koma had been personally
trained by Kano.

The duties of Koma's position
were to oversee Japanese immigration to Brazil. This is what brought
my grandfather and Koma together. The friendship between them became
so strong that Koma decided to do something that was not normally done.
He taught Jiu-jitsu to my father, Carlos. This was about 1918.

Carlos Gracie

My father was the first Brazilian
to learn Japanese Jiu-jitsu. Because non-Japanese were never taught
Jiu-jitsu, Koma asked that my father never teach it to the public, only
to family members. My father did this for years until he learned of Koma's
death in Japan. He made inquiries and found that Koma had died under mysterious
circumstances. His food had been poisoned.

My father then decided that
he should share the gift that Koma had given him so that Jiu-jitsu would
never die out in Brazil. This is when the first Gracie Jiu-jitsu
Academy was started. (Secrets of the Masters, Sept.1993).

Carlos Gracie had twenty-one
children, one hundred six grandchildren, and one hundred twenty-eight great-grandchildren.
Of his twenty-one children, all ten of his sons became black belts. Combined with their ancestors in Scotland and Ireland, the Gracie family could be the largest family in the whole world.